RPT-The Trump backlash: Latino consumers wield new clout

NEW YORK/CHICAGO, July 11 (Reuters) - When Donald Trump
described Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug smugglers last
month, Latinos took to social media to express their outrage and
urge businesses to sever ties with the billionaire presidential
candidate.

In short order, more than 10 organizations canceled their
deals with Trump, in what Latino activists are calling an
unprecedented recognition of their economic clout.

Latino spending power will hit $1.5 trillion this year, up
50 percent from 2010, according to the Nielsen Co, which
analyzes consumer spending trends.

At an average age of 27, the Hispanic population is a decade
younger than the U.S. average and just entering the prime of its
earning power, market researchers said.

"Latino millennials have purchasing power and they're not
going to tolerate Trump's comments," said Luis Fitch, a
Mexican-American co-founder of UNO Branding, a marketing
consultancy in Minneapolis. "Corporations understand the
numbers, they don't want to risk this."

Hispanics under 30 were the single largest group behind a
high-profile "Dump Trump" petition to Macy's Inc, which
got more than 730,000 signatures, according to Angelo Carusone,
organizer of the petition by liberal activists Moveon.org.

Carusone said he was in close contact with Macy's for days
before the department store chain said in a July 1 statement
that it would phase out Trump's menswear collection because it
had "no tolerance for discrimination."
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